Metal door



y 13, 1952 v. ROBINSON 2,596,792

METAL DOOR Filed June 21, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET l fi A m A ,r

[ 01/524 A Roam/saw y 13, 1952 v. ROBINSON 2,596,792

METAL DOOR Filed June 21, 1946 2- 1-1 s 2 Patented May 13, 1952 METALDOOR Lowell V. Robinson, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Crawford DoorCompany, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application June 21,1946, Serial No. 678,268

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates generally to a metal door, and moreparticularly to a rigid and strong one-piece metal door of light weight.

According to this invention, the door comprises a facing of corrugatedor indented sheet material, such as steel, aluminum, magnesium, or thelike, reinforced by a framewhich is welded to the facing in such mannerthat the need for diagonal struts or braces is eliminated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet metal doorconstruction including a facing and a frame having inter-engaging meansfor preventing sag.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal doorconstruction including a facing and a'. frame having inter-engagingmeans for preventing sag, and with the frame and facing spot-weldedtogether to prevent displacement of such means.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sheet metaldoor construction including a facing and a frame having tongue andgroove interlocks.

The invention has for an additional object the provision of a frame fora metal door comprising a plurality of parallel trusses secured togetherby members engaging their ends.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a door frametruss of channel cross section having one flange straight and the othercurved or bellied.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a metaldoor construction including a facing and a frame secured together ininterlocked and welded relation to rigldify the door against sag whenhung.

The above, other and further objects of the present invention will beapparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and the views thereof are as follows:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the interior or rear side of acomplete door;

Figure 2 is an end view of the door;

Figure 3 is a fragmental enlarged end view showing a manner of welding:

Figure 4 is a fragmental enlarged vertical section through a jointbetween two lapping facing sheets and showing a portion of a truss inalevation;

Figure 5 is a fragmental sectional view at a corner of the frame showingthe relationship of an end truss and a side member and thepreferredmanner of welding the truss web to the side member web;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken in the plane of line VI--VI of Figure5;

. Figure 7 is an isometric view of one facing sheet, showing marginaltongues and a middle tongue;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view through an isometric drawing of atruss showing how a portion of a flange and web of the truss is deformedto provide a groove for receiving a tongue of a facing sheet; and

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view through a groove of a truss andshowing in section a tongue of a facing sheet resting in the trussroove.

As shown on the drawings:

Figure 1 shows the inside or interior elevation of a door A of thepresent invention.

The door comprises a facing on its exterior side or surface, and aframe.

The frame as illustrated includes four trusses I0 which arechannel-shaped in cross section as may be observed in Figures 5 and 8. Atruss includes a straight flange II and a curved flange I2, the latterbeing bellied, as may be observed in Figure 2." Projecting from each endof a truss III are extensions I3, one of which is shown in Figures 5 and6. I

Side frame members I4 and I5 are provided, and these also are of channelcross section with the flanges parallel.- The webs of the members I4 andI5 are designated as I6, the top flange as H, and the bottom flange asI8. The extremities of the flanges II of the trusses III are depressedatI9 a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the top flanges Hof the side members I4 and I5 so that, when the side members areassembled on the trusses, the outer surface of the side member flan e I!will be flush with the outer surface of the flange I I of a truss. Thelower flanges I8 of the side members are bent slightly out ofparallelism, endwise, with respect to the upper flanges I! to conform tothe belly of the lower flanges I2 of the trusses.-

I'he trusses I0 have formed in the upper flanges I I, and in the webadjacent such flanges, a plurality of V-shaped grooves 20. Figure 2shows seven of such grooves.

Figures 8 and 9 show the preferred manner of forming the grooves 20 onthe channel trusses. A V-shaped tool is applied against the cornerbetween the upper flange II and web of a truss and acting in a diagonaldirection, and under pressure, depresses the material of the flange IIand web to the shapes shown in section in Figalong its middle. thetongues 24 is such as to readily fit into the 3 ures 8 and 9, and in endview, Figures 2, 3, and 4. It should be understood that the grooves 20in the trusses may be formed in any other suitable and convenientmanner.

In assembling the frame, one truss i is disposed to form one of the endsof the door with its web outermost, to thereby provide a smooth end forthe door. A side member is then engaged with-one end of the truss withits flanges l1 and 18 against theflanges H and I2 respectively of thatend of the truss and with the extension l3 at that end of the truss bentand lying against the web of the end member. The flanges I1 and 18 arewelded to the flanges II and I2 of the truss at the points.2l and .22 asshown in Figure 3. The extension I3 is welded to the web of the endmember at points 23. The other side member is welded to the other end ofthe truss in a similar manner. The intermediate trusses are applied tothe side members and th'ereunto welded as described. The truss at theother end of the door frame is arranged with its web outermost and itsflanges extending toward the flanges of the other end truss to therebyprovide a smooth exterior for the end truss at this endof the frame,which truss is welded to the side members in a manner described withreference to the first truss.

t will thus beobserved that the door frame is formed of channel memberswelded together in a strong and rigid manner.

The facing is designated generally at B. The facing might beco-extensive with the outline of the frame but, for convenienceinmanufacture and assembly, it is preferred to make the facing in the formof a seriesof strips 25, one'of which is illustrated in Figure 7. Thestrip illustrated in Figure 7 is formed with three V-shaped paralleltongues 24, with two of the tonguesalong the side margins of the stripand the third tongue The cross-sectional shape of V-grooves 2 0 in thetrusses.

For the facing strips along the marginal portionsof the'frame one of theside grooves would be omitted, so that such strips would have a middleV-shaped groove and a V-shaped groove along its other margin. Suchstrips would then be applied with its non-grooved margin overlying theflange H of the side member and its tongues 24 engaging in two of thegrooves '20 in the trusses. The strip so disposed is welded to theseveral trusses at the points indicated by 26 in Figure 3 and welded tothe flanges ll of the side member at a convenient place.

' After a marginal strip has been thus applied along one of the sidemarginsof the door frame, a second strip is thereto applied with one ofits grooves 24 fitted into the groove formed by the marginal groove ofthe strip so that the tongues of the strip 25 would enter the second,thirdand fourth grooves 20 of the truss, as illustrated in Figure 2, itbeing understood that one of the marginal tongues of. such strip fitsinto the groove formed by the marginal groove of the first applied stripwhich is, of course, applied in upside down position from that viewed inFigure 7. Another strip 25 with three tongues in it is then applied andwelded to the trusses. Along .the other marginal portion of the frame amarginal strip is applied in a mannerdescribed with reference to thefirst marginalstrip, Whereuponthe facing is completed with all of thefacing strips welded to all of the trusses and tothe side members l4 andI5, and with certain tongues 24' of certain strips interlocked withcertain grooves of other strips.

The use of channels for constructing the frame prevents warp of thedoor. Welding the trusses to the side members provides sidewiserigidity, and welding the facing to the trusses of the frame providesendwise rigidity and prevents torsion strains, the door thusbeingrigidified endwise and sidewise, cannot sag or twist to causerelative endwise movement of the side members, thereby eliminating needfor diagonal bracing.

Because of the frame construction described, it

is possible to use Iii-gauge metal for the trusses and-side members, and24-gauge metal for the facing.

.It willbe understood that the door of the present invention is strongand rigid, and at the same time is light enough to be readily moved inservice.

A door constructed in accordance with the present inventionmay bemounted-on hinges to swing, or might'be' mounted as an overheaddoor in agarage or warehouse to move from a vertical closed position to an openoverhead horizontal position, or might be mounted on rollers-for slidingmovement with respect to a doorway.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction-may be varied through a wide range without departing from theprinciples of this invention, and it is, therefore, not the purpose tolimit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scopeof the appended claim. 7

-I claim as my invention:

A metal door comprising a frame and a sheet metal facing on said frame,said frame including a'pair of side members and a plurality of trusschannels secured in spaced parallel relation between said side members,each of saidtruss channels having a solid web and an integral flange ateither side of said web, said web and one of said flanges being inwardlydeformed-at longitudinally spaced points to provide at each point a pairof trapezoidal portions integrally joined at an apex line extending froman intermediate point on. said web and inclined toward said one ofsaidflanges, said portions having terminal edges in the plane of theterminal edges-of said flanges and defining a v-shaped notch, and saidfacing being'deformed to provide integral elongated V-shaped projectionscomplementary to and disposed in said V-shaped notches.

LOWELL v. RQBINSON.

REFERENLES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 781,068 Hewitt Jan. 31, 1905973,751 Budd Oct. 25, 1910 1,168,539 Murphy Jan. 18, 1916 1,240,634Williams Sept. 18,.1917 1,354,929 Williams Oct...25,1920 1,365,059Picciri1li. s Jan..11, 1921 2,075,558 Tobin"; Mar. 30,1937

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 501,158 Great Britain 1939 549,474.Germany Apr. 28,1932 652,633 Germany 1937

